He Ao quickly replied, then made a phone call, picked up the brass cane on his desk, pulled open the door, and walked out of his office. The call was swiftly answered, Sena’s young voice coming through the phone. "Change into casual clothes, take a high-chassis car, we’re going to the southern part of Nevus District." He Ao walked to the elevator, pressed the elevator button, and spoke quickly. Tucker was still out with the city police collecting tangible evidence pointed out by the Levis documents; his duties in the Mayor’s Guard were now taken over by Sena. A voice replied from the phone. At the same time, the elevator doors opened, and He Ao stepped into the elevator, watching the flickering screen light up with a downward arrow, taking his body swiftly down. Soon, the elevator lit up with the -1 floor indicator, and then, the elevator doors opened, and He Ao stepped out. By this time, Sena was already wearing a suit, standing at the elevator door, with the doors of a black, fully enclosed off-road vehicle standing open beside him. He watched as He Ao walked slowly out of the elevator and quickly asked, "Should I inform the First Mecha Squad?" The First Mecha Squad was always on standby in a tall building behind the White Jasmine Palace, their main task to protect the Mayor’s Mansion from large guided missiles or war machines like the Dragon Cavalry. They had intended to come out to protect the safety of the Mayor’s Mansion during the morning’s speech, but He Ao had refused. Messages like the Blazing Angel Mech standing at the Mayor’s Mansion’s entrance would be too oppressive. In crowds, a minor mistake by these mechs could lead to massive casualties, and if a riot were to occur, the likelihood of losing control of the situation would increase, so He Ao did not let them come out. This morning’s "assassination" and "riot" were still within the range He Ao could handle. He Ao said, holding the brass cane, as he walked up to the car door, speaking softly, "We’re going out the second exit, ask them not to follow, and continue to stay near the Mayor’s Mansion. Also, share our itinerary with General Corvey." Sena nodded quickly, reached out to touch the black earpiece hanging on his ear, then his body stiffened, suddenly realizing that He Ao hadn’t got into the car but was smiling at him. He looked down at his attire and noticed that he had buttoned his suit wrong in his rush to change clothes; his face flushed red, he quickly said, "I’m sorry, Mr. Lin En, I..." He Ao just smiled and stepped into the back of the off-road vehicle. Sena hurriedly reached out to undo the buttons and fastened them in the correct places, then climbed into the driver’s seat, powered the vehicle, and fastened his seatbelt. Then he turned back to He Ao, "Mr. Lin En, do we need to take a couple of the Mayor’s Guard with us?" He Ao, holding the brass cane, shook his head slightly, "The southern part of Nevus District is General Corvey’s turf; he will protect us well, there won’t be any large-scale attackers there." Sena hesitated for a moment, then still said softly, "But it’s said to be chaotic over there, even worse than the Nevus Central District where I used to live. They basically can’t collect taxes, there are no police, just fierce gangs and Wilderness Wanderers everywhere." "But there are also a large number of Yilan’s citizens living there," He Ao said with a smile, "And that is precisely the reason why we should go there." Hearing this, Sena blinked in surprise and looked up at the Elderly sitting in the back row, his gaze somewhat lost. At this moment, He Ao continued to speak in a gentle, laughing tone, "Don’t worry, as long as there aren’t too many mechanized troops, I don’t need a lot of people to protect me. Having too many people would actually make us a bigger target and interfere with our business." In an instant, Sena came back to his senses. The gentle and kind Elderly before him suddenly overlapped with the blood-soaked figure from the previous night. He finally remembered that it was this somewhat old-looking ’Mister’ who had ’taken care of’ the assassination squad equipped with electromagnetic cannons and powerful Transcendents last night. After a brief hesitation, he nodded lightly, "Yes, Mr. Lin En." He turned back, touched the pistol inside his chest pocket, looked at his own reflection in the glass window, took a deep breath, then shut off the vehicle’s lights and started the car. The black SUV turned around and moved along the rear of the underground parking lot, driving out from a concealed entrance behind the Mayor’s Mansion as the sky gradually darkened. And just as they exited this entrance, five huge white Blazing Angel Mechs towering between buildings came into He Ao’s field of view. "Mr. Lin En, are you sure you don’t need us to escort you?" It was then that the communications from the First Mecha Squad entered the SUV, and the squad leader’s image appeared on the screen. He Ao shook his head slightly. Hearing He Ao’s words, the Mecha Squad leader hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded lightly, "Understood, we’ll follow your orders." The fiery red sunset hung between the towering skyscrapers and on the shoulders of the massive mechs. The red glow spread out over the neat roadway, as the white Mechs turned their gazes, watching the black SUV drive away in the light. South City Defense Command Center "What on earth are these guys trying to do?" In the brightly lit war council room, a middle-aged military officer raised his head to look at the giant screen ahead, frowning slightly. At this moment, the screen in the conference room was displaying a short video captured by a drone, showing some fully armed mercenaries in Yiwis Space System uniforms. They were now clearing the trees in the surrounding wilderness, unfolding the shells on the large off-road vehicles to reveal the mobile rocket launchers they were transporting inside, while nearby mercenaries manned small Engineering Mechs using various equipment to secure these rocket launchers. "Judging from these launchers, they should be Yiwis Space System’s Q-75 rocket launchers," a military officer in the crowd said softly, "These are mid to short-range rocket launchers designed for the wilderness environment, with a maximum design range of two hundred kilometers, suitable for dealing with unusual terrain like cliffs or exotic beasts with rock-like hard and thick armor." another officer took over the conversation, "We also purchased a batch of these rocket launchers to clear the armored exotic beasts near the city walls. Multiple Q-75 rocket launchers used in combination can also conduct saturation attacks on grouped targets or large objects within a mid to short range." "Looking at how they’re setting up these launchers, it doesn’t seem like they want to saturate attack the exotic beasts; it looks more like they want to saturate attack us," another older officer said hoarsely, "We need to prepare early." "But their muzzles are not pointing at us; they’re pointing south." A younger officer, in his thirties, quickly replied, "And with the large number of flying exotic beasts in the wilderness skies, if they want to breach the fifty-kilometer safety zone and hit the high walls, they’ll have to deal with those creatures first." "Their muzzles only need to be turned one hundred and eighty degrees to point at us." The older officer continued hoarsely, answering calmly. "The Q-75 Rocket Launcher indeed has the capability to attack high walls," the officer who had recognized the rocket launcher began, "On flat terrain, it can be fired at a low angle of elevation, following a low-altitude trajectory where there are fewer exotic beasts in the sky. Thanks to the Yiwis Space System’s low-altitude trajectory technology, it can just manage to cover a distance of 50 kilometers. Its special armor-piercing design can also cause considerable damage to high walls." "It seems these bastards designed this thing with the intention of taking on high walls, huh?" A scoffing laugh came from the back of the crowd. "It’s pretty normal; most weapons designed by humans, when conceptualized, prioritize being used against humans themselves." The older officer rasped, "A pistol can’t kill an exotic beast, but it can easily kill a person, and those bastards at Yiwis Space System sure are not short of war weapons, they’ve got all sorts of good stuff." "I heard they now have a mass-produced Falcon-5 Ballistic Missile that can blur the perception of high-altitude exotic beasts, smoothly crossing high altitudes with low consumption. Its maximum range can reach a thousand kilometers. Who knows if within that thousand kilometers there are missile bases they’ve designed?" "Directly targeting a Fortress City is a violation of Federation law, right? If I’m not mistaken, we happen to have a Federal Central Army nearby. Is Yiwis Space System looking to get themselves killed?" A younger officer in his thirties questioned, puzzled. "According to the intelligence we’ve received," a middle-aged officer seated in the front coughed lightly, "That Central Army was relocated half a year ago due to some reasons and is now in the Northeast Federation. Currently, there is no Central Army in our vicinity. Based on their normal Wilderness marching speed, it would take the nearest Central Army half a month to arrive and intervene." "The folks from Ains have never been reliable," the older officer cursed under his breath, "The Federal Assembly, the President, they are all in bed with those consortia. They probably started preparing six months in advance, and maybe they’ve even greased the palms to handle things afterwards." "I think these bastards just came to flex their muscles, trying to intimidate us with a show of force." An officer in the corner interjected, "To do these things right on the edge of a safety zone, pfft, disgusting." "So what do we do..." the younger officer whispered, "Are we just going to watch them pull off these stunts?" The atmosphere in the entire War Council Room quieted down in an instant, and everyone’s gaze converged on the elderly man sitting at the front who had not spoken yet. "What does the Evis Space System Mercenary Corps say?", Corvey slowly turned his head to look at the middle-aged officer beside him. "They sent a communication saying they’re conducting an exercise near Yilan City to test new equipment." The middle-aged officer replied quickly, looking down. "Exercises are good," the elderly man turned his head back, looking at the large screen with a smile, "We just happen to be conducting exercises recently too. Let the Light Cavalry Mechanized Troop of the First Wilderness Army Brigade go out and conduct some exercises next to them." The middle-aged officer nodded immediately. "Check all instruments and equipment in South City, take inventory and maintain the equipment in the armory, calibrate the anti-aircraft system, the missile system, and extend the war-time shift system to all troops throughout South City," the elderly man slowly stood up and looked up at the video on the screen once more, "Keep the city gates normally open, allow caravans to enter and exit as usual, don’t be afraid, and don’t act rashly." All the officers stood up and responded loudly in unison. At the same time, the elderly man slowly turned and walked toward the War Council Room’s door, leaving the War Council Room. He had taken only a few steps forward when a young guard approached him head-on, handing Corvey a card with a half-translucent, gray-gold metallic finish, "A man in a suit is outside the Command Center, saying he’s here to visit you." The elderly man reached out to take the card, looking at the text on it. On the front of the card was a logo of overlapping triangles, two elongated triangles like sharp bullets, overlapping one another at the top left and right. Above the overlapping triangle logo was a line of sharp, angular font, ’Yiwis Space System Company.’ Corvey flipped the card over to the back, where a neatly engraved sentence read, [With our sincerest greetings, we bear no ill will—Yiwis Space System Mercenary Corps] At that moment, a middle-aged military officer caught up from behind. He hesitantly looked up at Corvey and spoke in a subdued voice, "News from the First Mecha Squad, Mayor Lin En is heading to the southern region of Nevus. He’s alone, accompanied by only one Guard member." The elderly man glanced at the middle-aged officer, took the metal card in his hand, and casually handed it to the officer. The middle-aged officer took the card somewhat blankly, glanced at the text, "An envoy from the Yiwis Space System Mercenary Corps? What is he here for?" "Trying to persuade us to join the Consortium’s ranks." Corvey turned away and continued forward, speaking in a hoarse voice. "A stick followed by a carrot?" The middle-aged officer looked at the exquisite card in his hand and let out a wry laugh, "This card is pretty heavy. Are these golden lines gilded? Looks expensive, and the engraved words seem permanent, one-off? A message on a card, quite the extravagance." By now, the two of them had slowly walked out to the terrace garden, where Corvey stood at the edge, lifting his head to look at the dilapidated city bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun. "So Mayor Lin En guessed the people from Yiwis Space System were coming to try and ’persuade’ us, and he intentionally came to South City to put pressure on you?" The middle-aged officer, still holding the card, mused. Then he paused, frowning slightly, "But how could he put pressure on us by coming alone? Isn’t he afraid that we might be bribed by the Yiwis Space System Company and then simply send troops to capture him? This time, he doesn’t have a Floating Warplane to perform extreme maneuvers with." "He came to show me trust." Corvey lowered his head, his cloudy gaze falling on the low-rise buildings beneath the sunset. Hearing the elderly man’s words, the middle-aged officer also realized something and sighed softly, "Walking by our side at the most dangerous time, bold and decisive, it sounds like something he would do." "I remember, you also grew up in the southern part of Nevus?" Corvey withdrew his gaze from the dilapidated buildings and asked softly. The middle-aged officer nodded gently, "My mother was seriously ill at the time, and I was wandering the streets alone trying to earn money. If you hadn’t pulled me into the City Defense Army, changing my fate, I probably would have joined a gang." Corvey looked down at his military uniform for a moment and then turned to head down the corridor behind him. The middle-aged officer was taken aback and hurried after him, "Where are you going?" "Get ready, we’ll go down too," The elderly man walked slowly into the depths of the corridor, his voice hoarse and distant, "To revisit the place we grew up in."